The latest 2017 guide to South Tyneside is out. Request your own free 33 page copy of the guide below.

Here is an extract from the latest 2017 guide to South Tyneside…

Eat The World

Whether you’re after fish and chips on the coast or Great British classics from one of the many brilliant pubs in pretty towns and villages dotted through the landscape, South Tyneside has a globetrotting foodie pedigree.

South Shields

Everyone knows that South Tyneside is as stuffed with great food as a particularly generously-proportioned raviolo (the restaurant-lined Ocean Road being perhaps the best-known example), but it’s easy to stop at just the fish and seafood which is hauled out of the North Sea every day, and not see the full depth and breadth of the international flavours on offer here.

Take, for instance, Radhuni, an Indian restaurant on Ocean Road where Head Chef Sharif Ahmed’s command of flavours from across the subcontinent mingles with fantastic local seafood to make a really unique take on classic Indian plates – see the monkfish papeda, cooked slowly in methi, tomato, onions and spices, for proof. Still got a hankering for some spice? Zeera, on Ocean Road, won the North East Restaurant of the Year at the English Curry Awards last year, and Spice Garden and Asha Balti House are both worthy additions to South Shields’ spice stable too.

You want ice cream? Try Minchella’s, who’ve got many years of experience in the art of frozen deliciousness, or visit the younger pretenders to their throne at Creme De La Creme. In this war of deliciousness, the winner, surely, must be the ice cream connoisseur.

Down on the seafront, there’s even more to explore: take afternoon tea at The Boardwalk Restaurant in the Little Haven Hotel, grab some beachside drinks and some chilli mussels at The Sand Dancer Beach Bar and Crab Shack Kitchen, and find quirky treats at Mac ‘n’ Alli’s. Lime and courgette cake, anyone?

Minchella’s have more than a century of experience

For a little twist of heritage with your food, head to Marsden Grotto, built into the cliffs in Marsden Bay, which specialises in tapas and cocktails and has an ace beachfront terrace, or to The Rattler, a repurposed intensely funky 19th century railway carriage which overlooks the beach. Harbour Lights pub, too, is a great place to drop in for classically-inclined food as well as a couple of drinks.

Or how about some healthy veggie and vegan food? Roots Cafe has earned admiring notices since it opened up, being full of bright, fresh flavours and a breezy, friendly atmosphere. Plus, it does the only thing better than a full English breakfast: a full Scottish breakfast, which includes veggie sausages, homemade veggie haggis and potato scones.

One of the most vibrant parts of South Shields is the Mill Dam, which has a range of great restaurants and bars, including The Green Room in The Customs House and The Waterfront, which serves Asian fusion food and boasts an excellent range of cask and craft ales. The Steamboat, The Riverside, The Trimmers Arms and The Alum Ale House are all popular real ale pubs.

It’d be remiss to get all the way through our guide to this part of South Tyneside without – ho ho – going overboard about the fish and seafood at the venerable Colmans on Ocean Road. They celebrate the best of traditional British cooking and North Eastern produce.

It’s going to expand this year, too, with the Colmans Seafood Temple making its eagerly-anticipated entrance on Sea Road right on the beach.

Westoe

This village packs in a lot for its size: there’s well-wrought Indian dishes at Lasun, or enjoy the tasty dishes at Hedworth Hall’s Otto Restaurant. Momo’s Mediterranean flavours remain a big draw too, and after you’ve had your fill you should head over to Nine for a glass of one of their many champagnes, or to The Monte Carlo Cocktail and Prosecco Lounge. They, you’ll be unsurprised to note, do cocktails and proseccos, and very good ones at that.

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The latest 2017 guide to South Tyneside is out. Request your own free 33 page copy of the guide below.

Here is an extract from the latest 2017 guide to South Tyneside…

We Propose a Coast

To the finest stretch of seaside. cliffs, culture and heritage in the North East. and some amazing fish and chips: we salute South Tyneside’s coastline.

We’re not usually ones to get misty-eyed, but if there’s anything that’s likely to get us tearing up with North Eastern pride, it’s our coastline. There’s something to recommend every inch of its roughly 110 miles of coast, but there are few places as jam-packed with intrigue, fun, heritage and romance as the South Tyneside coast between South Shields and Whitburn.

Firstly, the romance. All coastline is gorgeous to varying degrees, but we’ve got some of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous coastline of all here in South Tyneside. Take, for instance, its beaches: Littlehaven beach, sheltered from the worst of the weather by South Pier, is a watersports haven; and Sandhaven beach on the other side of the pier, with its soft golden sands and grand dunes, is ideal for a classic day out at the beach, ice creams and all. It’s not just good to look at either. Aside from the aforementioned watersports, both are ideal for your classic beach sports – volleyball, football, cricket, frisbee and the like – and a dip in the North Sea is an experience you won’t forget in a hurry. There are countless hidden coves, bays, nooks and crannies all along the coast to explore, which is one of the best things about this bit of the shoreline. No matter when you visit, you’ll always be able to find somewhere which feels completely your own.

Further down the coast, things take a turn for the rugged. The seven-mile walk from Littlehaven to Whitburn takes in some of the most staggering rough-hewn coastline in the region, with its ancient grandeur having captivated generations of visitors. You head across clifftops, past Frenchman’s Bay (a French ship ran aground there, hence the name) and towards Manhaven Bay and the uniquely-shaped humps of Velvet Beds – also known locally as Camel Island. The big draw here, though, is Marsden Rock in Marsden Bay. For the last 250 million years this limestone rock has stood in the sea, gradually being weathered into an instantly recognisable monolith. You might be so knocked out by it (or, you know, just a bit thirsty after your wanderings) that you fancy a pint – happily, Marsden Grotto, one of the very few pubs we know of which is in a cave, is close at hand.

The other icon of this part of the coastline is the National Trust’s Souter Lighthouse. As the first lighthouse in the world designed and built to be powered by electricity, it’s an internationally important piece of industrial history as well as being a brilliant place to take children – they’ll love the pirate play shop and the Marsden Rattler play train.

Closer to sea level, there are promenades and parks to explore too. South Marine Park is an absolute must: take a pedalo out on the lake, feed the ducks, take a ride on the miniature steam train (if there are three more exciting words in the English language than ‘miniature steam train’ then we’ve yet to read them) and then settle in for an ice cream at the incomparable Minchella’s, which has been the supreme dealer of lickable treats on our coast for decades. Before that, though, you need some proper fish and chips, and they don’t come any more proper than the multiaward-winning Colmans on Ocean Road.

Alongside the taste of tradition, you can also sample some of the most vibrant public art in the region. Take Littlehaven’s promenade, for instance. There, you can see the 22 life-size bronze weebles which make up Conversation Piece by Spaniard Juan Munoz, as well as two pieces by Stephen Broadbent which speak to the culture of this coastal community: The Eye, which looks out toward the sea to watch for ships coming home; and The Sail, representing the area’s seafaring past and present.

Between the coast’s culture, heritage and pure iconic landscape, you’ll be spoilt for choice when you come to explore it.

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To Start
Smoked mackerel pate with toasted sourdough bread and garnished with pea shoots
Tempura battered king prawns with a homemade sweet chilli dip
A trio of Lindisfarne oysters and lemon wedges
Marsden garlic mussels served in their own pot with warm crusty baguette
Our own seafood chowder served with warm crusty baguette
From “The Cave” wild mushrooms on toasted sourdough with garlic, parsley and melted mozzarella

From the land
“Jack the Blasters Surf and Turf”
12oz rump steak cooked to your liking with tomato, mushroom and twice cooked chips, topped with half a lobster and garlic butter
Chefs own recipe steak and haggis burger in a toasted brioche bun with sliced red onion, tomato, and lettuce and served with coleslaw and twice cooked chips
Mushroom and tarragon tagliatelle finished with Parmesan and rocket (Vegetarian)
Goat’s cheese and red onion marmalade frittata with a fresh green salad(Vegetarian)

If you are staying with us this Halloween weekend then you might want to visit one of the many haunted places in North East England, we’re often asked by guests who stay with us over Halloween for suggestions of places to go so we have made a series of blog posts with all the haunted venues in the North East region that you might like to visit…

Haunted Places In North East England – Marsden Grotto

The Marsden Grotto, known locally as just the Grotto is the closest haunted location to our bed and breakfast accommodation in South Shields. It can be found less then ten minutes drive from us in Marsden on the Coast Road heading towards Whitburn, NE34 7BS.

The Grotto is a public house and restaurant. It is one of the very few ‘cave bars’ in Europe, it is partly dug into the limestone cliff face. Access is via a lift or a zig zag staircase on the cliff at the side of the building. The Grotto has a long history dating back to 1782 with a reputation for smuggling activities. There are several tales of hauntings at The Grotto, mainly relating to a smuggler named John the Jibber who was reputedly murdered by his fellow criminals after selling information to HM Customs. It is said that he was hung in a barrel in a cave close to the present lift shaft and left to starve. A popular story is that a former landlord of the pub would leave out a special tankard of ale each night after closing and in the morning it would be empty. Local DJ and TV presenter Alan Robson drank from the tankard during one of his live Metro Radio shows, allegedly sparking off a series of supernatural phenomena that eventually forced the then landlord to quit. This included flying ashtrays smashing against the wall and flooding in the cellar after all the beer taps were inexplicably turned on. You can read more about The Marsden Grotto here.

You can see a short British Pathé video filmed inside The Marsden Grotto here…

Several local paranormal investigation teams have held vigils at The Grotto and continue to do so, you can visit their websites here (links open in a new window) if you’d like to take part in a group ghost hunt to the pub…